The sanctions were signed off in response to the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia on March 4, which the US explicitly blamed on Russia.

The Russian embassy in the US called the measures “draconian” and Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they were “illegal” and “absolutely unfriendly”.

Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev was today asked to comment on how the sanctions will affect Russia’s economy, namely banks and restrictions on the US dollar.

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ACT OF WAR: Dmitry Medvedev has threatened to respond to US sanctions

He said Moscow would take retaliatory measures if Washington targeted Russian banks.

"I would like not to comment on the talks about future sanctions, but there is one thing I can say: if measures like a ban on banking activities or the use of this or that currency follows, this can be clearly be described as a declaration of an economic war,” Medvedev said during a visit to Russia’s Far East.

“And this war will have to be responded – by economic, political and, if necessary, other means. And our American partners should realize this.”

Medvedev said the sanctions are an attempt to “limit the political power” of Russia by the US.

"In the past hundred of years, our country existed in the conditions of the constant pressure of sanctions. Why is this being done? In order to eliminate Russia from the list of powerful rivals on the international arena," he added.

“The US has unmasked itself as the mastermind behind the cheap show to stage the poisoning of the Skripals,” Irina Yarovaya said on Thursday.

“The curtain has been drawn, it reveals who directed and masterminded this provocation.

“These gentlemen are by no means first-timers in the criminal sanctions aggression.”

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WARNING: Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow will respond to US sanctions by 'other means'

Donald Trump’s administration explicitly blamed Russia for carrying out the chemical attack on Sergei and Yulia in Salisbury, Wilts, in what was believed to be an assassination attempt.

A fresh round of economic sanctions are to come into force on August 22 as punishment for Russia’s violation of international law, the department said.

"The United States... determined under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991(CBW Act) that the government of the Russian Federation has used chemical or biological weapons in violation of international law, or has used lethal chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals," Heather Nauert, a spokeswoman for the department, said in a statement.